


The Road to Eden

by Melody_Jade



Category: Logan (2017) - Fandom, Wolverine (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Fix-It, Gen, Logan (2017)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-04 12:59:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12771585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melody_Jade/pseuds/Melody_Jade
Summary: It was close to midnight when they finally entered New York.





	The Road to Eden

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lordnelson100](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lordnelson100/gifts).



* * *

It was close to midnight when they finally entered New York. As the headlights of their black SUV – their fifth car in just a week – flashed upon the “Welcome to New York” street sign, Logan glanced at the backseat through the rear view mirror.

Charles sat unmoving on one side, his head turned to the window beside him. Caliban, who was sitting next to Charles, draped another blanket over Charles, who didn’t react at all. Logan wondered if Charles had any idea where they were right now. Ever since they picked up Laura and went on this mad cross-country road trip, Charles had gradually regained his lucidity. It made Logan wonder if his senility was linked to his loss of hope, because it had started not long after mutant births had stopped and the school’s population started dropping off. With each day it felt more and more like Charles Xavier the Professor had returned, only for the old man to lose his lucidity and become more silent and withdrawn as they got nearer and nearer to New York.

The change of the radio station drew Logan’s attention to the young girl sitting next to him on the passenger seat – the reason for their current predicament. Growling, Logan swatted Laura’s hand away from the radio knob. “Stop changing the channel,” he snapped at her, and switched it back to the all-news channel he was listening to.

Laura glared at him and then pointedly looked away from him, not bothering to give him any response or acknowledgement. Logan suppressed a frustrated sigh, annoyed at the entire situation.

Just one week ago, he and Charles and Caliban had been leading a simple quiet life near the US-Mexico border. And then Laura had come bursting into their lives, bringing Transigen with her, and now the four of them were on the run across the United States.

Back at the Munson’s, Logan had arrived back at the farmhouse just in time to see his younger clone at the entrance to the house, with an apparently escaped Caliban tussling with him. A desperate fight had broken out, pitting Logan against his younger and stronger clone. Fueled by desperation and years of experience, Logan had finally managed to subdue his clone with the adamantium bullet, before collecting Charles and Laura and hightailing it out of the farmhouse with Caliban in tow and Transigen people hot at their heels.

What had followed was a grueling week on the run. Laura had broken her silence a few days ago and insisted on being sent to North Dakota. Logan, stunned and incensed that she had apparently been able to talk all this time, had gotten into a huge argument with her despite Charles and Caliban’s best efforts to defuse the situation.

Eventually, after a lot of yelling, the whole story finally fell into place. Eden didn’t refer to a fictional place but was the codeword for a meeting spot in North Dakota for the escaped young mutants, from which they were to continue moving up North to cross the border into Canada.

The discussion had been interrupted when their pursuers once again caught up to them, and they had to run again, ditching their car for a new one.

It was then that they all knew – if Laura met up with her friends she might be leading Transigen directly to them.

Charles had latched onto the idea of Canada though, and so it was that years after Charles’s first seizure had led to Logan taking him away from the state, they were back here in New York to attempt a border crossing into Canada.

If Logan believed in fate, he would laugh at the circuitous route it had taken to lead them both back here.

Instead, he could only shake his head bitterly at his usual streak of bad luck.

"Logan, we should probably stop for the night." Caliban spoke out softly from the backseat, bringing his mind back to the present.

Logan grunted in agreement. He’d been driving for the majority of their road-trip as they made their zig-zag way up the United States, flat-out refusing to allow Laura to drive even though she had insisted she could, and he was exhausted.

"I know a place we can stop at for the night," he said, and exited the highway at the next ramp. Driving solely from memory, he eventually parked the car in front of a small abandoned building in the middle of nowhere.

"A safehouse that used to belong to the X-Men," he answered in response to Caliban's enquiring gaze.

Charles continued to stare out the window, giving no indication if he heard what Logan said or if he was even aware of their surroundings.

* * *

While Laura and Caliban carried the bags containing their supplies into the house, Logan unfolded Charles's wheelchair and opened the door closest to him. “Come on Charles, it's time to get you to bed," he said.

"Logan," Charles said weakly, his eyes focusing on Logan. "Where are we?"

"Somewhere out in the middle of nowhere," Logan answered as he wrapped his arms around Charles’s frail body, lifting him out of the car and into the wheelchair.

Charles looked around their surroundings as Logan wheeled him up the path to the building. "How close are we?" he asked.

"We'll reach the US-Canada border tomorrow."

Charles shook his head slowly. "You know what I mean, Logan."

A mansion, warm and beautiful in the light of the setting sun, lit up from within with the sound of laughter and imbued with the hopes and dreams of countless children. The place that had once been their home.

“Close enough,” Logan finally managed to say around the lump in his throat.

“I’ll like to see it one last time,” Charles said wistfully, his eyes clouding over in reminiscence.

Logan stopped the wheelchair, looking down at Charles in shock. “Charles, you know we can’t do that. It’s too risky, there might be people from Transigen watching the mansion.”

“Just for a short while, we don't even have to stop. I just want a little glimpse. One final glimpse. I never got to mourn them," Charles said softly, in a voice choked with tears, and Logan froze.

Charles's eyes were filled with grief and guilt. "I remember, Logan. I remember what I did. An unspeakable thing." His voice broke at the end, and Charles closed his eyes, tears rolling down his age-ravaged face.

Logan remembered too. He remembered feeling the telepathic compulsion to _STOP_ , of having to fight against it as he made his way agonizingly through a mansion of frozen mutants toward Charles, of having to snap Charles out of it and the subsequent crazed flight to put as much distance between Charles and civilization as possible for fear of another relapse. He remembered listening to the car radio’s coverage of the Westchester Incident as Charles laid unconscious in the backseat, each named casualty like a knife in his gut. He remembered when Charles woke up, disoriented and with no memory of what he’d done, and known he could never tell Charles the reason why they could never go home again.

Logan had to blink back his own tears. “Yeah. Well.” he said, at a loss for words.

"All these years, you’ve sheltered me from the truth. But I don’t deserve your kindness, Logan. Not after what I did."

Logan sighed. “It was an accident Charles. You never meant for it to happen.”

Charles shook his head. “I still did it anyway. Hurt the people under my care. Logan, I don’t know how to live with this.”

Logan understood. He’d done terrible things too. Hurt people he didn’t mean to. “You just have to continue on despite the pain,” he said softly.

Charles reached back, grabbing Logan’s hand in a feeble hold. "I need this, Logan. I need to go back to the mansion. To mourn and say goodbye. Please let me do this."

And there was nothing Logan could say to that, could he?

* * *

He wheeled Charles inside the house to see that Laura and Caliban had set up camp in what used to be the living room and were preparing a late supper with firestarters and other tools they’d gotten from the store.

Laura sat next to Caliban, watching everything he did with wide-eyed fascination, and Logan looked away, unable to bear the innocence and curiosity in her gaze.

They ate the food in silence, each of them wrapped up in their own thoughts. Tired from all the traveling, Charles and Caliban went to sleep almost immediately after finishing the meal. Laura wandered around exploring the rest of the house, evidently not sleepy. Too tired to order her to stay put, Logan let her explore and positioned himself at one of the windows that gave him a good view of the road and any approaching vehicles.

He started to nod off after a while, only to be jolted awake by an insistent poke. He opened his eyes to see Laura standing by his side, staring at him in an almost accusatory manner.

"You should go sleep," she said haltingly.

Logan pulled himself out of his slouch and onto his feet. "You sleep instead," he said. "I'll check outside, make sure nobody is around." Hopefully the night air will make him more awake too.

A small hand grabbed hold of his arm and held firm with surprising strength despite Laura’s small frame. "You sleep, I keep watch," she insisted.

Logan was exhausted to the bone, and he found he had no energy left to argue. Sinking back down to his seat, he ignored Laura who sat down next to him watching the window. "Suit yourself," he muttered.

They kept watch in silence but Logan found his eyes shutting again. Blinking them open, he looked over at the girl sitting next to him. She alternated her gaze between the road outside the window and a photo she clutched in her hands.

“Can I see it?” Logan asked softly, mindful of their sleeping companions.

After a brief hesitation, Laura handed it over to him. The well-worn photo was of Laura with a group of other children. “Your friends?” Logan asked.

A single nod. “Jonah,” Laura said, taking back the photo and pointing at a young boy in the photo. “Gideon, Delilah, Rebecca, Rictor.”

Logan studied her. “Are you worried about your friends?”

Another nod as her fingers tightened around the photo.

Logan didn’t know how to do comforting the way Charles or Caliban could. But both of them were asleep, so he tried a shoulder pat and said in a hopefully reassuring manner, “I’m sure your friends made it to Canada if they’re any bit as tenacious as you. We’ll cross the border tomorrow night, get in touch with the people over there and seek asylum, and then we’ll find your friends, okay?”

Laura flashed a quick smile at him, gratitude in her eyes. Logan looked away, clearing his throat, unwilling to acknowledge the tenderness he felt at that moment but not wanting to break the peace that had fallen over them as well.

Softly under her breath, Laura started humming a tune. The melody was oddly soothing and Logan was so tired…

He pitched forward, barely registering the small hands that reached out to steady him and lean him back against the wall, or the pillow that was tucked under his head or the blanket that was draped over him.

Lulled by the sound of his daughter’s voice, Logan fell asleep.

* * *

They left the house early next morning, Caliban wrapped head-to-toe in cloth to protect himself from the sun. Logan got their car back to the highway, their SUV one of many cars among the early morning rush hour traffic. They exited the highway at Westchester, and he drove the car down a familiar road.

Soon, they reached familiar gates, rusted with age and neglect. Logan parked the car beside the gates, through which they could see the mansion that was once home to the X-Men and other mutant children.

Logan had dreamed this moment a million times before. Sometimes, he was welcomed back home by his friends and fellow X-Men, joy and laughter ringing out freely everywhere. Too often the dreams would turn into nightmarish memories of a mansion of mutants frozen in the grips of a telepathic seizure. He had wondered what coming back home would be like, if he would be reminded of all the happy memories or if it would be a physical reminder of all his ghosts and regrets.

In the end, it was neither of them. The mansion looked just like any other old house, abandoned and fallen into disrepair. Whatever memories or ghosts the mansion once held had long since fled, along with all its previous occupants. They were all gone, leaving Charles and Logan as the last custodians of an old era in a world that had long since outgrown them.

Windows rolled down, Charles gazed pensively at his childhood home. He closed his eyes, his hand outstretched, as though he was trying to touch any memories that still remained in the mansion. Eventually his hand fell away and his opened his eyes, bright with unshed tears. The grief in Charles’s face was so stark that Logan had to look away. "They're all gone," Charles said, echoing Logan's thoughts.

Laura looked worriedly at Logan and then back at Charles. Reaching back, she took Charles’s withered hands and squeezed them, and Charles smiled tenderly back at her. “I’m alright, Laura,” he said reassuringly. “I’m just saying goodbye.”

Logan saw a black truck approaching them from the rear-view mirror. He started the car's engine. "Someone is coming. We have to go now, Charles.”

Charles nodded, his face still etched with grief.

Logan stepped on the gas, and they drove away from the only home he and Charles had ever known.

* * *

A few tense hours later, they finally shook off their tail and picked up a new rental car. Logan directed the car up North. "Here's the plan," he said as he navigated their car through the moderate traffic. "I'll drive as close to the border as I can and then we'll ditch the car. We'll wait until night falls, and then we'll cross the border on foot."

There were no sounds of protest, which he decided to take as agreement. "Keep a lookout for any tails," he instructed them as he concentrated on navigating the car past traffic as quickly as possible.

He could only hope Transigen would assume their outing at Westchester was to indulge an old man’s whims, and didn’t figure out that their true destination was the US-Canada border.

* * *

Luck had never been on Logan's side though.

They were waiting near the border at an abandoned outpost for the sun to set, so tantalizingly close to freedom, when Charles had suddenly gasped. Fearing the onset of another seizure, Logan had reached for the medicine case, but Charles had grabbed his hand urgently instead. "Logan, they're here,” he gasped. “The people from Transigen."

Logan cursed. It was not yet dark, but they were completely out of options at this point.

"Get to the border!" he yelled to Caliban as he turned to face the approaching men. The covered-up albino gripped the handlebars of Charles's wheelchair and pushed forward, but their progress was slow, impeded by the movement of the wheels on dirt ground.

Laura stood next to Logan, claws out, her face fierce. With a feral cry, she took a running leap at the nearest man, incapacitating him with a few quick slashes as Logan took down the man next to her. What followed was a blur of fighting as Logan and Laura worked beside each other, coordinating their attacks as though they’d been fighting together for years. Laura was quick and agile, obviously trained to fight, but she was inexperienced. Logan had more years under his belt, but old age had led to a lower stamina and sluggish healing factor.

Despite their best efforts they were still outnumbered, and eventually the men surrounded them on all sides, weapons trained on them. Charles and Caliban didn’t manage to get away either, and were forced back within the circle of men. Charles in particular seemed to be in some distress, and Logan tensed, afraid that Charles might slip into another seizure like what happened back at the hotel.

Donald Pierce strode out from the circle of men to greet them, smiling that smarmy grin of his. "The four of you certainly led us on a merry chase. We still caught up anyway. That was a mistake going back to that old mansion, Wolverine.”

Logan didn't bother responding to him, looking around them instead for any escape routes.

Pierce laughed and sneered at him. "Don't bother. You're all surrounded. Now, honestly, all I want is the girl. Let me take her away, and I’ll let the three of you off. No hard feelings.”

Laura snarled at him. "Easy, Laura," Pierce said mockingly, although Logan noted that he seemed nervous and motioned a few of his men forward with their guns.

Logan stilled Laura with a hand on her shoulder. He shook his head derisively at Pierce. "You really think I’m going to believe that?"

Pierce just shrugged, he didn't even look embarrassed at being called out on his lie. "We can do this the easy way or the violent way. Your choice." He once again addressed Laura, “Come on, Laura. Time to go home. All your friends are waiting for you."

Laura made an inarticulate scream of rage and fury and she strained against Logan’s hand, poised to attack.

It was then that Charles suddenly spoke out. “He’s lying,” he said. Sweat was on his brow and his hands were shaking, but he seemed fully lucid.

Pierce's head swung quickly to look at Charles and then suddenly, he staggered and clutched his head. "Stay out of my head!"

"Your friends are safe, Laura," Charles said, his voice weak but steady. "Pierce and his men did track them down, but they were unable to capture any of the children.”

It was only then that Logan realized that everyone else in the clearing was completely still. "Charles," he breathed out. "What are you doing? Don't overstrain yourself."

Charles glanced quickly at Logan, his eyes alert and knowing, a small smile on his face. It was an expression that made him look years younger. At that moment, he looked so much like the Professor X of old that Logan’s heart almost stopped. “Everything is fine Logan,” he said. “The visit home did me good. My mind is clearer than it has been for years.”

He waved his hand and Pierce and his men all dropped to the ground, unconscious.

Logan breathed hard, adrenaline still coursing through his body. "Charles," he said, still trying to catch his breath. "Are you sure you’re alright?"

"Yes," Charles answered. He reached out to Laura and she took his hand. “I saw it in his mind,” he reassured her. “Your friends crossing the border as he looked on helplessly. They're all safe. You’re safe now too."

Logan grunted, unwilling to let down his guard just yet. "Not until we cross the border. And even then, who knows what we'll run into at the other side."

"Friends," Charles said, and there was wonder and joy in his voice.

"What? What are you talking about?" Logan said disbelievingly.

Charles’s hope-filled eyes met him, bright with a light Logan had thought was long gone. "Mutants, Logan. There are mutants across the border, and they're just waiting for us to cross over.” An enigmatic smile. “Old friends, even."

Logan's heart skipped a beat, and he almost stumbled back in shock, trying desperately to tamp down on the hope that flared up in his gut. He darted a glance at Caliban, who nodded solemnly. "He’s right, Logan. I can feel them too.”

A hand slipped into his and he looked down to see Laura next to him, peering up at him.

Hope beat like a drum within his body.

"Alright then, let's get going," Logan finally managed to say.

He pushed Charles’s wheelchair, and together, the four of them made their way up the road to the border toward a new brighter future.

* * *

 


End file.
